King Abdullah of Jordan and Oman's Sultan Haitham were among regional leaders who arrived in Kuwait in Thursday to offer their condolences on the passing of the late Emir, Sheikh Sabah. Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Iraq's President Barham Salih also travelled to Kuwait convey their sympathies. Sheikh Sabah's death on Tuesday at the age of 91 started an outpouring of condolences and tributes from world leaders. Known as the "prince of diplomacy and humanity", he had ruled Kuwait since 2006 and steered its foreign policy for more than 35 years before that. "The Arab and Muslim nations lost a wise leader who was dedicated to serving his people and defending Arab and Islamic causes," King Abdullah told Kuwait's new ruler, Sheikh Nawaf, brother of Sheikh Sabah. King Abdullah was accompanied by Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah and members of government and senior officials including Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, Senate President Faisal Fayez and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Jordan's Petra news agency reported. Sultan Haitham, Mr Salih and Mr El Sisi were also accompanied by high-level delegations and were received at the Emiri Terminal by Sheikh Nawaf, Kuna reported. Sheikh Sabah was buried on Wednesday after his body was flown home from the US, where he had been receiving treatment since July. UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, visited Kuwait on Wednesday to convey the country's respects. The President, Sheikh Khalifa, ordered funeral prayers for Sheikh Sabah at mosques across the UAE after asr prayers on Thursday, the state news agency Wam reported. The Ruler of Umm Al Quwain, Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla, ordered that the emirate's corniche street be renamed after Sheikh Sabah. The move was recognition of the great services Sheikh Sabah performed for "his homeland, the sisterly state of Kuwait and the whole world", Wam reported. "It is also an acknowledgement of the great role that Sheikh Sabah played before the establishment of the UAE Union and his direct follow-up to many of Kuwait's development initiatives in the region."
